How to Disable Comments in WordPress: Step-by-Step

How to disallow comments on WordPress is a simple setting you can change when you don’t want visitors leaving comments on your website. WordPress lets you turn comments off across the entire site, for individual posts and pages, or even for media files.

Comments can be useful for blogs and community-driven websites, but many business websites don’t need them. Landing pages, service pages, announcements, and contact pages are common examples where a comment section can add little value. Spam is another reason site owners choose to turn comments off.

The good part is that you don’t need to edit code to disable comments in WordPress. You can change the setting from your WordPress dashboard and decide exactly where comments should be allowed.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to disallow comments in WordPress using the built-in settings, turn off comments on existing posts and pages, and disable comments on media files.

Comments can be great but they’re not for every WordPress site. There are several good reasons why turning them off might actually help your site’s performance, user experience and security.

1. Spam

Spam comments are a pain for WordPress users. Even with anti-spam plugins like Akismet or CAPTCHA forms, bots find a way in. Over time they clutter your site, waste your time and even impact your SEO. Disabling comments on older posts or static pages helps you regain control and focus on real engagement.

2. Security

Unmoderated comment sections can open the door to malicious links or code injections. Especially if your comment plugins aren’t up to date, this can be a security risk. Disabling comments reduces those vulnerabilities—especially when combined with a secure, high-performance hosting provider like Rocon.

3. eCommerce User Experience

If you have an online store using WooCommerce, customer reviews belong in the review section—not in blog-like comment threads. Removing comments from product and checkout pages makes navigation cleaner and faster. And with Rocon’s optimized WordPress hosting, those performance gains are even better.

4. Centralize Conversations

Already have a community hub like Discord, Facebook or a dedicated forum? Keeping all conversations in one place avoids confusion and keeps your website content-focused.

Whether you want to clean up a few pages or turn off comments site wide, WordPress has you covered. Here’s how to disable comments using built-in tools, plugins or a bit of code.

Method 1: Turn Off Comments on All Published Posts and Pages

This is perfect if you’ve decided to remove comments from your entire WordPress site—maybe your site is static, business only or you just don’t need user interaction through comments.

Step by step:

• Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
• Go to Settings > Discussion.
• Under “Default post settings” uncheck the box that says: “Allow people to submit comments on new posts.”

This will turn off comments on any new posts or pages. 

But what about the ones that are already published?

To turn off comments on existing content:

• Go to Posts > All Posts (or Pages > All Pages).
• Select the posts or pages where you want to turn off comments.
• From the dropdown labeled “Bulk Actions” select Edit and click Apply.
• In the bulk edit options set Comments to “Do not allow.”
• Click Update to save.

Now, none of your current or future content will have a comment section, giving you a clean and distraction-free site.

Method 2: Disable Comments on Future Posts Only

You still want comments on your old posts but want to turn them off going forward. In that case, this method keeps the comments on your existing posts and stops new ones.

Here’s how:

• From your WordPress dashboard, go to Settings > Discussion.
• In Default post settings, uncheck:  “Allow people to post comments on new articles.”

That’s it! This will disable the comment section on any new posts or pages you publish.

Your existing posts will still show comments, so old conversations will remain visible, while new content will be comment-free.

Method 3: Disable Comments on Specific Posts or Pages

Use this method when you want to keep comments open on most of your site, but close them on certain types of content—like landing pages, announcements, or thank you pages that don’t need user feedback.

Here’s how:

• Go to your WordPress dashboard and go to Posts > All Posts or Pages > All Pages.
• Click Edit on the post or page you want to edit.
• Scroll down to the Discussion section below the editor.
• Uncheck the box that says:“Allow comments.”
• Click Update to save.

Can’t see the Discussion section?

Look up at the top right of your editor screen and click Screen Options. Then check the box for Discussion to show it.

This way you can have comments on blog posts and disable them on pages that don’t need user interaction.

Method 4: Disable Comments on an Individual Post or Page

This is basically a zoomed-in version of Method 3—ideal when you’re managing one page at a time and want complete control over specific content.

Steps:

• Head to Posts > All Posts (or Pages > All Pages) and click Edit on the post or page you want to modify.
• In the post editor, scroll down to the Discussion meta box.
• Simply uncheck “Allow comments.”
• Click Update to apply your settings.

This method is especially useful if you’re reviewing content one-by-one and making decisions on whether to keep or remove the comment section based on relevance or tone.

Pro Tip: If you’re on a fast, agency-grade hosting platform like Rocon, you’ll appreciate how quick and smooth the admin interface feels—even when handling large sites

Method 5: Disable Comments on Media Attachments

You may not realize this but WordPress creates a page for each media file (images, videos, PDFs etc) and these pages can receive comments. These attachment pages can get. These pages can receive comments which often go unnoticed and become spam magnets.

Why it matters:

• These pages don’t get traffic.
• Comments here can look unprofessional or attract spam bots.
• They can also bloat your site if left unchecked.

Here’s how to disable comments on media manually:

• Go to your WordPress dashboard and go to Media > Library.
• Switch to List View (easier for editing individual items).
• Click Edit on a media file.
• Scroll to the Discussion box.
• Uncheck “Allow comments.”
• Click Update.

Method 6: Use a Plugin

If you don’t want to mess with manual settings, plugins can do all the work for you. This is great for beginners or anyone managing multiple sites or content types.

Top Plugins:

Disable Comments

Allows you to globally remove comments from posts, pages, media or even custom post types.You can also choose to disable comments by user roles (e.g., only admins can comment).Super simple interface—perfect for non-techies.

WPCode (formerly Insert Headers and Footers)

If you want to add a code snippet that disables comments site-wide without touching your functions.php file.

Clean, safe and won’t break your theme.

Not ready to turn off comments entirely but want to keep your comment section clean and useful? There are smart ways to reduce spam without losing engagement. Here’s how:

Anti-Spam Plugins

• Antispam Bee: Honeypots, IP checks, no CAPTCHAs needed.
• Akismet: Filters spam based on content and IP reputation.

Honeypot Protection

• Invisible trap fields catch bots before they can submit spam.

CAPTCHA on Comment Forms

• Use CAPTCHA 4WP to add Google reCAPTCHA.

Thrive Comments Plugin

• Users can like/dislike comments
• Downvotes hide spammy content
• Users can edit their own comments for better engagement

Remove Website URL Field

• Prevent link spam with Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools

Whether you should disable WordPress comments depends on how people use your site. If you run a blog where readers share questions and opinions, comments can still be useful. For landing pages, service pages, announcements, or other pages where discussion isn’t needed, turning them off can keep things simpler.

WordPress gives you control over where comments are allowed. You can disable them across your site, turn them off for specific posts or pages, or close comments on content that no longer needs discussion.

If spam is the main reason you’re considering this change, you can also review your comment settings before disabling comments completely. But if you don’t need comments at all, turning them off is a perfectly reasonable choice.

The process only takes a few clicks, and you can change the setting later if your needs change. Once you’ve disabled comments, check a few pages from the front end to make sure the comment form is gone where you expected it to be.

1. Can I turn off comments on some posts but not others in WordPress?

Yes! You can turn off comments on individual posts or pages in the Discussion panel in the post editor. You have full control over where comments show up.

2. Will turning off comments delete existing ones?

No, turning off comments will stop new ones from being added but existing comments will still be visible unless you delete them manually.

3. What if I want to turn comments back on?

You can turn comments back on at any time. Just go back to the Discussion settings or individual post/page editor and check the “Allow comments” box again.

4. Are there plugins to make this easier?

Yes! Plugins like Disable Comments and WPCode make it easy to remove or manage comments site wide without any coding.

5. Will turning off comments speed up my website?

In some cases yes—especially on larger sites. Removing comment scripts and spam management tasks will reduce server load. Combine that with fast WordPress hosting like Rocon and your site will be even faster.